Modular furniture



Sept. 8, 1970 MQBERG 3,528,096

MODULAR FURNITURE Filed Feb. 28, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 JEromeI%fiezj.

Sept. 8, 1970 J. E. MOBERG MODULAR FURNITURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 28, 1968 Meir/arr Jrowemfiezy 144, 6M M:gzg. I .5

United States US. Cl. 297-130 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method for producing and apparatus assembleable into any one of a multiplicity of furniture pieces from a small number of basic components comprises the construction of a chair seat having component receiving means in its base adapted to receive a multiplicity of components which may be selectively mounted to assemble various pieces of furniture. The components may be added in groups of one or more, and include a chair back component, leg components, a tilter base component, an interconnection component for connecting a pair of seats or other components in side-by-side relationship with a seat, and a table top component for connecting between a pair of seats. These various components are selectively assembled into furniture pieces, examples including tiltable or rigid chairs, a stool, a settee, and a settee-table top combination.

The present invention relates to improvements in the art of assembling furniture, and more specifically to a method and apparatus that can be utilized for assembling any one of a multiplicity of furniture pieces from a small number of basic components.

Especially in the field of office furniture, there is a demand for a wide variety of furniture pieces following a single styling theme. It is, for example, desirable for an oflice to have similarly styled desk chairs that can tilt upon a conventional tilter base, non-tiltable chairs to accommodate ofiice visitors, secretarial chairs, and larger pieces of furniture such as settees. In order to satisfy this desire, it has heretofore been necessary for furniture manufacturers, distributors, and dealers to maintain relatively large stocks. Accordingly, it would be desirable if a complete line of oflice chair-type furniture could be provided that is easily assembleable from a relatively small number of individual components. In this way, the distributor or dealer can simply stock the components, assembling them into the necessary furniture pieces as required by customers.

Generally, the present invention relates to apparatus assembleable into any one of a multiplicity of furniture pieces, together with a method for manufacturing such a variety of pieces from relatively few components. The apparatus includes a chair seat as a basic component, the chair seat having receiving means in its base adapted to receive numerous additional components. These additional components include a chair back component, an arm component, a rigid leg component, and a tilter base component, as well as specialized components useful in making larger pieces of furniture. These specialized components include an interconnection component for attaching two or more seats in side-by-side relationship to form a sofa-like device, and a table top component that can be fastened between two chair seats. The table component is preferably attached to a chair seat by means of the aforementioned interconnection component.

The invention, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with the advantages thereof, will be best appreciated from the following detailed description taken together with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective view of the preatent ice ferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating various components that may be selectively assembled into furniture;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a standard ofiice chair assembled according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a desk chair assembled according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a combination settee and table combination assembled according to the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a settee assembled according to the present invention.

More specifically, the method of the present invention centers around the construction of a chair seat component having component receiving means in its base and adapted to receive a multiplicity of components Which may e selectively mounted to assemble various pieces of furniture. The components, which may be added in groups of one or more, include a chair back, arms, rigid legs, a tilter base, an interconnecting component for connecting two or more seats and table tops in side-by-side relationship, and a table top for connecting between a pair of seats. These components may be selectively assembled, for example, into a tiltable or rigid chair, with or without arms, a stool (chair without back or arms), a settee (two or more chairs interconnected in side-by-side relationship, with or Without arms), a settee including a table (two or more chairs with a table top connected between a pair of chairs), etc. Additional furniture items can also obviously be assembled. For eX- ample, a bench could be assembled by leaving the backs off the settee construction.

Referring now to the drawings, and more specifically to FIG. 1, there is depicted furniture component apparatus in accordance with the present invention, and generally indicated by reference numeral 10. The basic component of the apparatus 10 is the chair seat 12, preferably having a cushioned upper portion 14 and a component receiving base 16. In the embodiment shown, the base 16 has numerous central ventilation apertures 118 to allow the escape or influx of air when the cushioned upper portion 14 is compressed or released. Located on the component receiving base 16- are component receiving means, in the embodiment shown comprising apertures 20 positioned for alignment with similar apertures in components to be connected to the base 16, and adapted to receive screws 22 for securing components to the base '16. It will of course be understood that, although the component receiving means shown includes apertures 20 and screws 22, any component receiving means adapted to receive and rigidly retain a multiplicity of components may be utilized with success.

One of the components that may be utilized with the chair seat 12 of the present invention is a chair back component 24. The back component 24 preferably includes a cushioned, forward-facing portion 26 to contribute maximum comfort to the user. Attached to a lower portion of the back component 24 by bolts 28 is a bracket 30 extending below said back component, and angled in a forward direction, i.e., toward the front of the chair. The forwardly projecting portion includes a mounting aperture 32 alignable with a chair back receiving aperture 20a in the component receiving base "16. In the most preferred embodiment, for maximum rigidity of the chair back component 24, there is also a bracket receiving slot -34 at the rear of the component receiving base :16. Finally, an additional component receiving aperture 36 is on the back of the chair seat 12, aligned with a mounting aperture 38 in the vertical portion of the angled bracket 30.

As also shown in PEG. 1, the present invention includes arm components 40 of generally rectangular configuration, and having upper arm rests 42 and arm mounting brackets 44 on the lower portion. Each of the arm mounting brackets 44 has a central mounting aperture 46 positioned for alignment with arm receiving apertures 20!) in the component receiving base 16. It can be seen that both of the arm components 40 shown in FIG. 1 are identical except that the arm rests 42 face in opposite directions. Thus, a right or left arm may easily be assembled simply by altering the orientation of the arm rest 42. The arm components 44- are easily mounted on the component receiving base .16 by screws 22 penetrating the aligned apertures 46, 20b.

Shown below the chair seat 12 are a pair of leg components 48 designed for substantially vertical mounting below and in support of the chair seat 12. It is preferred that the leg components 48 each include a pair of leg members 50 and a horizontal member '52 joining the leg members 50 at the top thereof. Attached to each of the leg components 48, at an upper portion thereof, is a pair of horizontal brackets 54 projecting outwardly from the horizontal members 52, each having a central mounting aperture 56. In assembled relationship these mounting apertures 56 are aligned with leg receiving apertures 200. The leg receiving apertures 20c are located so that each of the leg components 48 is mounted with the horizontal member 52 passing along either the front or rear of the chair seat 12. In such a manner, the leg components 48 will not interfere with the mounting of the arm compo nents 40, or with other components that are mounted to the arm receiving apertures 20b at the sides of the base 16, as hereinafter described.

As an alternative to the leg components 48, which provide a rigid chair, it is often preferable to provide a chair that can be tilted back for comfort, and can also be easily moved around. Thus, instead of the leg components 48 described above, the chair seat 12 of the present invention may be provided with a tilter base component, generally indicated by reference numeral 60. The tilter base component 60 includes a support pedestal 62 having legs 64 and a titltable mounting means 66. The tiltable mounting means 66 is of basically conventional design, including an adjustment knob 68 and spring 70 for setting the amount of resistance to tilt. The tiltable mounting means 66 is connected to the pedestal 62 through a spindle 72 including a washer 74 which can be adjusted to regulate the height of the chair seat 12. While the tilter base component 60 may be stationary, it will generally be assembled with casters 76 so that the entire chair can be easily moved around.

Referring again to the tiltable mounting means 66, the

.upper portion of the embodiment shown is of horizontal,

flared =I-I-shaped configuration, having mounting apertures 78 at the tips of the H, and tiltable about the cross members of the H. These mounting apertures 7 8 are positioned for alignment with tilter base component receiving apertures 20d in the component receiving base e1 6. Of course, the tilter base component 60 would be used as an alternative to the leg components 48.

As previously mentioned, the arm components 40 are optional, depending upon the piece of furniture desired. Additionally, in place of the arm components an interconnecting component may be mounted on the component receiving base 16 at the arm receiving apertures 20b normally utilized for the arm components 40. A suitable interconnecting component comprises an interconnecting braoket 80 which has a pair of mounting apertures 82 positioned for alignment with the arm receiving apertures 20b on the bases 16 of a pair of adjacent chair seats .12 in side-by-side relationship. Alternatively, the interconnecting bracket component 80 may be employed to mount a table top 84 between a pair of chair seats 12. Where great rigidity is required for a table top 84 or chair seats 12 in side-by-side relationship, a channel-type interconnecting bracket 86 may be employed as the interconnecting component. The channel bracket 86 runs the length of the assembled furniture, and has apertures 88 alignable with the arm receiving apertures 20b of each seat 16, along with receiving apertures in underside of the table top 84. In this Way, the components will receive additional support from the channel bracket 86. Of course, one channel bracket 86 can be used to interconnect a plurality of chair seats 12 in side-by-side relationship, the number depending upon the length of the channel bracket 86.

FIGS. 25 illustrate some of the preferred furniture combinations that may be assembled in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 2 illustrates an arm chair including a chair seat 12, a chair back component 24, arm components 40, and substantially vertical leg components 48.

FIG. 3 illustrates a chair similar to FIG. 2, but substituting the tilter base component 60 for the leg components 48. A chair such as illustrated in FIG. 3 would be suitable for use as a desk chair. It will be appreciated that numerous modifications are available in addition to those shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, the arms could be eliminated on either chair, and if a stool were desired, the back could also be eliminated.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate two settees that can be assembled according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, a pair of chair seats 12 are each connected to a table top component 84 by interconnecting bracket components 82. The interconnecting bracket components 82 are illustrated in FIG. 1, and are mounted to the component receiving base 16 by screws 22 penetrating the aligned apertures 82, 2015. In addition, each chair seat 12 has a back component 24, leg components 48, and an arm component 40. As can be appreciated from FIG. 4, the settee-table combination may be altered, including additional adjacent chair seats 12 and/or table top components 84.

FIG. 5 illustrates a settee including a plurality of adjacent chair seats 12. The chair seats 12 are connected together by interconnecting bracket members having apertures 82 aligned with receiving apertures 20b, thus coupling a pair of adjacent seats 12. As shown in FIG. 5, an arm component 40 may be installed on each end of such a settee. It is preferred that a settee such as that shown in FIG. 5 include an odd number of seat components 12, so that leg components 48 are installed only on alternate chair seats including both end seats. Again, it will be appreciated that the arm components 40 and/ or the back components 24 may be omitted to produce settees of varying designs, tailored to individual needs. It will also be appreciated that a settee may be formed in combination with a table top 84, as shown in FIG. 4, and that the table top may suitably be employed as a corner component, so that a pair of chair seats 12 may be supported in angled relationship to one another, as to fit the corner of a room.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention as hereinabove described will occur to those skilled in the art, and it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus assembleable into any one of a multiplicity of furniture components comprising: a unitary basic chair seat component, said seat component having apertures formed in the underside thereof, including a chair back receiving aperture, arm receiving apertures, and leg receiving apertures; a chair back component including bracket means extending below said back, said bracket means having mounting means, said chair back adapted for upright mounting behind said chair seat component when said chair back bracket mounting means are connected to said seat component by fastening means penetrating said chair back receiving aperture; an arm component including arm mounting means, said arm component adapted for upright mounting at the sides of said seat component when said arm mounting means are connected to said seat component by fastening means penetrating said arm receiving apertures; a rigid leg component including leg mounting means on the upper portion thereof, said leg component adapted for substantially vertical mounting below and in support of said seat component when said leg mounting means are connected to said seat component by fastening means penetrating said leg receiving apertures; an interconnecting component adapted to be connected to said seat component by fastening means penetrating said arm receiving apertures, said interconnecting component being adapted to engage a plurality of seat components in side-by-side relationship; and a table top component adopted to be connected to said arm receiving apertures by said interconnecting component for mounting said table top component alongside said seat component and substantially parallel thereo.

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 further including a bracket receiving slot at the rear of said seat component adapted to receive said chair back bracket mounting means.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said apertures in said seat component further include tilter base component receiving apertures formed in the underside thereof, and wherein said apparatus further includes a tilter base component including a support pedestal and tilter base mounting means connected thereto, said tilter base mounting means being adapted for connection to said seat component by fastening means penetrating said tilter base component receiving apertures.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS JAMES T. McCALL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 297118 

